NJ Football: Frank Bottone of New Providence is state Coach of the Year

Steve Hockstein/For The Star-LedgerFrank Bottone, standing near the street named after him in New Providence, retired after winning a sectional title and was named The Star-Ledger's state football Coach of the Year for 2010.

It was a matter of mere seconds after the final whistle of New Providence’s 21-8 victory over Lincoln in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 championship game, before the coaches addressed their teams, before the teams had even shaken hands for that matter.

A reporter approached Lincoln coach Robert Hampton, but before he could ask a question the heartbroken coach offered a comment.

“I’m happy for Coach Bottone and I’m proud of his team for sending him out on a great win,” Hampton said as a solitary tear slowly made its way down his left cheek. “We lost the game, but I couldn’t have lost a game to a classier gentleman.”

New Providence star Vinny Fuschetto, who lost his grandfather at a young age, spoke warmly of the venerable coach being like a grandpa to him.

“You want to win it for the guy you love,” Fuschetto said, explaining the team’s added incentive this fall.

Those are just two examples of the thousands of lives Bottone has impacted in his 48 years at New Providence, the last 46 as the only varsity coach the school has ever had.

Winning six NJSIAA playoff titles and compiling a 334-125-7 record, the fourth-highest victory total in state history, certainly entitle Bottone to a claim as one of the greatest coaches in state history.

But it was his willingness to change and implement new tactics as well as his ceaseless energy in building better football players and better men that made the 79-year-old Bottone the choice as The Star-Ledger Coach of the Year.

Bottone could have coasted in his final season but instead went about re-tooling the offense, modifying his Wing-T attack by adding the spinner series, the very same offense he ran as quarterback at Caldwell in 1948-49, his senior year.

Bottone insisted that offensive coordinator Art Cattano be credited for implementing the system.

“We changed because we had a lot of skill people, and if you’re running the Wing-T, you’re not going to give them the ball,” Bottone said. “It was something different and the kids responded well. They were excited about it and the coaches were, too.”

Bottone also made the decision to move the versatile Fuschetto around the offense, even at quarterback in the team’s wildcat-like Pioneer series, in an effort to get him more touches. The senior responded by leading the county in scoring and earning Union County Player of the Year honors.

Bottone never stopped coaching until the final whistle of the final game. During the fourth quarter of a one-sided victory over Brearley, with sophomores and seldom-used reserves on the field, he never stopped teaching, working with players who will benefit long after he’s retired on technique and assignments.

“I just love coaching the kids,” Bottone said. “I get a lot of satisfaction from that.”

Winning the championship may have been the lasting memory of Bottone’s final season, but it certainly wasn’t the only one.

Unbeknownst to Bottone, approximately 250 of his former players were waiting for him in the end zone prior to New Providence’s Thanksgiving Day game against Gov. Livingston, and close to 200 showed up for a reunion dinner the following evening.

“When I looked outside it looked like a mob scene,” said Bottone, who was overwhelmed by the horde of disciples gathered in the end zone. “I recognized most of them. You may forget names but you don’t forget faces.”

Even the team’s lone blemish, a 36-19 loss to Summit, came to a team coached by New Providence native John Liberato, a former Bottone player and assistant coach.

“I said that if we had one hiccup, if we had to lose to somebody, John would be it,” Bottone said.

One of Bottone’s best personnel decision came 30 years ago when he pressed his wife, Betsy, into duty as the team’s statistician. Two generations of media have benefited from the reliable and accurate game reports she provided, not too mention her perpetually cheery disposition.

“You have to break in (a statistician) every year, this way I had one right here,” Bottone said. “And she cooks.”

Bottone has spent the two weeks since the championship game reflecting on a broad array of emotions from his near half-a century at the cozy Union County school.

“How many coaches can say they won their last game for a championship?” Bottone asked. “It was a great year, a story book year. This group had something special that made them do what they did and play the way they did.”